Vargas arrived at the Mburuvicha Roga presidential residence in Asuncion for a meeting that was also attended by Paraguayan Foreign Minister Eladio Loizaga, the government said.

Vargas, who arrived with a group of Dominican business leaders, is scheduled to meet later with Loizaga to sign a series of bilateral agreements whose details will be released in the afternoon at the Foreign Ministry.

The Dominican official and his delegation plan to meet with Paraguayan Industrial Association representatives in an effort to strengthen trade ties.

Vargas’s visit is part of a joint effort “to promote bilateral relations with an emphasis on trade promotion, investment and a drive to bring integration between Paraguayan and Dominican businesses closer,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

During his two-day visit, Vargas will place a wreath at Casa de la Independencia, where the South American country’s independence movement began in 1811.

In 2016, Paraguay exported goods and services worth $8.5 million to the Dominican Republic, while importing goods and services worth $881,193 from the Caribbean country.

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